Elysian Park/LA River Experience.

Elysian Park/LA River experience.  Hello ;D  my name is Candice Alvarez,  I am a student from Ximena Hernandez' English 101 class and as an assignment we had to do a service learning project. We had the option of going to the Dockwelier beach clean up, or the Elysian Park LA river clean up. This Saturday April 27, 2012 my class went to Elysian Park/LA River to pick up as much trash as we could to clean the environment. It seemed as though it was a mission for pretty much the whole class to get to this place, but in the end for myself i can say that it was a pretty good experience. It was such a warm day, many of us were sweating, and the area was muddy and full of trees/plants, but I felt good knowing that i was doing something productive. Let me share with you what exactly we found: mattress springs, seat cushion, shopping carts, chip bags, soda cans, t-shirts, a toy, plastic bags, plastic lids, and creatures(dead and alive). I did not expect to find half of these items there, and it really made me think of how careless we are by throwing our trash on the ground when we are less than 5ft away from a trash can sometimes.We complain when we see it, but ignore the situation when we are the ones doing this. Think about your actions, and throw away your trash, do not just throw it where ever you please. If you have the opportunity to volunteer and/or are assigned to clean a beach, river, park, etc take advantage of the opportunity.

Extra Help Wouldnt Hurt :D

(this shows how close the trash can was from the fire pit)

Hi my name is Carlos Valencia. I ended up going to the Service Learning Project that my Professor Jenny Hicks assigned. I took my sister and bestfriend so that they could be part of this incredible day. That incredible day was Earth Day. Earth Day is the day were we as human beings have to appreciate our earth. We started by walking around seeing where the trash was. Little by little we keep on seeing more and more trash such as plastic bottles, cans, spoons, plates,pair of sandles, some underwear and ect. I wouldnt of thought that the beach would of been this dirty. When I hear the word "beach" i picture something fresh but what was ironic was that the beach was more or less than being fresh. We as a class went to clean up the mess that other human beings didnt throw way. I notice that people that go to the beach are some lazy people. I was upset that human beings couldnt throw way their trash, not even when the trash can was less than 10 feet away. What made me  more upset was that human beings didnt think about where the trash was going to ended up or what it would be hurting. So human beings should think more about where the trash is going to end up. We as human beings should clean up after ourselves. We have to appreciate our EARTH more than anything.                   

  SO CLEAN UP  AFTER YOURSELVE :D <3 

The Planet we live on

 Hi my name is Henry Matias and on Sunday April 22nd was Earth day. My English Professor Jennifer Hicks assigned the class a service learning activity. The class had to clean Dock Weiler Beach up. At first I thought was going to easy because I thought the beach would have been clean, but when I got there it looked more dirty than Skid Row. There was trash everywhere,on the streets,the shores, but most of it was under the sand. Our professor provided us with a trash bag and a glove. When was walking though beach I picked up a lot of things like dippers, candy wrappers, aluminum cans, glass bottles, and plastic. I even had to go get another bag to pick up the rest of the trash on the beach. That was the first time I had gone to the beach to clean it. People really don't care about the environment because of how people treat the beach like it is a place to dump there trash. Even though I was picking up some else trash I felt good about it. As I walk through the beach I thought that this was only a small part of the world my class was cleaning image all the other place that are not being clean and are maybe more dirty than Dock Weiler beach. People should care more about the planet they live on, but instead they are destroying it. If we all work together we can make a difference can save the planet we live on for future generations to come.   

Oh Yeah Beach Time Yeah!! :)

On Sunday April 22, 2012 I attended a beach clean up at Dock Whieler with many of my class mates from Jenny Hicks class. The clean up consisted of picking up rare items laying on the ground. The rarest thing i have found on the sea or the bay, would be a grill. I never assumed of finding a grill on the ocean side. Arriving at the beach it was pretty cold, and everyone was tired and sleepy. I know i was. But looking at the bright side of things, cleaning up the bay was not a bad idea, why? Because i dont usually take the time to clean up the beach or attend any major clean ups in my community. So long story short it was a great experience and i am looking forward to attending another beach clean up.



Sincerely, Bryan Zavala

we were cleaning by some big rocks.. TEAM WORK.. :)

To The Rescue(:

To the Rescue(:

Hello everybody!!(: My name is Carolyn Santos. I am a student at California State University of Los Angeles. Im taking English 101 and my professor is Jennifer Hicks. On April 22,2012 also known as Earth Day I had the honor to clean one of our local beaches named Dockweiler Beach. Although it was really cold and windy, this would have to be one of the greatest experiences I have had and it was for a great cause as well. I can honestly say that out of all the times that I've been to the beach I have never seen so much trash being litered on the beach. My group and I started out with very little trash but as we walked along we started noticing things I would have never expected people to leave in the beach such as shirts, shorts, socks, shoes, sandals, and grills in order to make a barbeque. Those weren't the only things that we saw that day we also saw diapers, paper cups and plates, plastic containers,  toys kids could play with and so forth. It was really a privlegde to work with other students and help clean the enviorment we live in in order to make it a better place for us to live in because although we didnt get everything on the beach it is one step closer to improving the planet we live in  to make it a better tomorrow for everyone.

Surrounded by Clean Air.

Gritting’s fellow classmates and bloggers. I am an undergraduate student at California State University Los Angeles. My professor Jenny Hicks gave us the option to participate in one of two activities in a Service Learning Component. The activity that I chose was on April 22nd and took place at DockWeiler Beach and the whole purpose of it was to clean because of Earth Day. Since this wasn’t my first time going to this particular beach I already knew what to expect.  We began to clean up at nine in the morning and approximately finished at eleven o’clock. We were assigned to a group and were giving a plastic bag to put any trash we found along the seashore. My fellow classmates and I filled up several bags with papers, diapers, leftover food, clothes, liter fluid and much more. We filled up more than six bags with trash all the way to the top. It seems that people don’t care about their environment and beaches not only does it affect us but also sets a bad example. I learned a lot from this activity that I should get more involved that way I could try to influence the peers around me to do the same. Of course it isn’t going to happen right away but we could all start by not littering and throwing the trash where it belongs. Overall it was a good experience not only because we picked up trash but because we had a good time doing it. Making a positive change could help the world a lot, give it a try!

Cleaning For A Better Tomorrow

Hello my name is Hector Torres.   I am a student at California State University Los Angeles. On April 22, 2012 my English class went to clean DockWeiler Beach in honor of Earth Day.  It was a cold and cloudy day.  We got one glove and one bag to fill as me and my fellow class mates walked down the beach I saw so much trash. There were trash bags, wrappers; aluminum cans, fishing lines, barbecue grills, bottles of lighter fluid, and old sandals.  This was the dirtiest beach that I had been to but I feel good that I was able to help make a bit cleaner. As I walked closer to the water I could see small pieces of trash floating in the distance and there was nothing I could to get them. In the end I filled my bag four times and there was still a lot of trash to clean up. If we all work together we can make a difference just by picking up one piece of trash every time we go.  

DOCKWEILLER BEACH EXPERIENCE

Hey! My name is Luis Sanchez im one of the students of Jenny Hicks for english 101. On April 22 my classmates and I had a field trip to Dockweiler beach to do give back to mother nature by cleaning up the beach. Dockweiler is known for being the dirtiest beach around. I wasnt gonna be surprise if we were gonna find a lot of trash that day. I was pretty excited to clean up the beach because i personally dont like seeing the beach dirty. Me and my family go to beaches and seeing trash around is just not right because little kids could just grab it and play with it or maybe put it inside their mouth. Also seagull and other animals that live in the beach would encounter with the trash. Trash would also go to the ocean and fishes could eat some of the trash and maybe get caught in some trash. Cleaning up the beach was a pretty awesome experience for me because i was doing a favor to mother nature by cleaning up the beach. Me and my class mates had a serious cleaning to do. We found all sorts of things. For example, cans, bottles, diapers, towels, clothes, broken glass, cups, etc. By the end of the day the beach looked better than what it did before we got there. It was a pretty awesome feeling just seeing the beach really clean and parents wont have to worry about their children picking up trash that might do harm to them and maybe eat trash that would make them sick. I would like to clean up the beach next year, it would be great.

we can make a difference!

Hey everyone! My name is Courtney Munoz. I am a student at California State University Los Angeles. My English professor is Jennifer Hicks. In English 101 we were assigned to do one service Learning Experience to examine what is going on in our environment today. I chose to volunteer at DockWeiler Beach because I’ve always enjoyed going to the beach but I’ve never noticed how dirty it was. On April 22, 2012 my class went on a field trip to give back to the earth in honor of Earth day. We were given a plastic bag, gloves, and a sheet to put tally marks of items that were found. My group and I walked along the fire pits and found a bbq, a lawn chair, clothes, diapers, and some fires that were still burning. We dumped out our bag in the trashcan at least different 10 times. As we were walking we saw a spot on the beach that was filled with sandals, plastic bags, socks, etc. another group joined in to help as we were about done a big tractor started coming and dumped all the trash right where we had just cleaned. It was sad to see why all the trash had gotten there in the first place. Don’t just walk by trash because it’s not yours. Everyone should give a hand. We can make a difference!

Make A Difference

My name is Luz Zurita and on April 22nd I made a difference. I participated in cleaning at DockWeiler beach with my classmates. When we arrived I was really ashamed to see all the trash that was left behind by people. I didn't expect to pick up so many trash. We filled up 3 trash bags with glass bottles, plastic caps, cans,plastic bags,tissue paper,aluminum,plastic and much more. We where walking along beside the water and I was shocked to see how much trash was floating in the ocean, which animals confuse it with food. I never payed attention to how much we are harming our enviroment and animals, by not cleaning after ourselves. This activity opened my eyes to see how important it is to keep our enviroment clean not only because it will make the enviroment a better place but there will also be less animals in danger. Im really happy that I was a part of this activity because now I know how important it i's to keep the enviroment clean. I'm going to make a diffrence and start making people aware of our surroundings and I will throw trash where it belongs. Had lots of fun!

Earth Day

Earth Day

As many may know today is Earth Day April 22, every year we are given a chance to appreciate our planet more and increase awarness of our Natural Environment. I was aware of this day but I never contributed until today. My professor Jennifer Hicks assigned me to participate in the Service Learning Component of the Stretch Composition Program of California State University of Los Angeles. This Service Learning Component consists of two activites but only one is required, the first one which was already completed and the second one that is planned for next week. The first activity was to go to DockWeiler Beach and clean. When I arrived I was completely shocked because there was so much trash everywhere, I was assigned in a group with several classmates and given plastic bags to collect trash. We began at nine and started cleaning until approximately eleven o'clock. We filled several bags of trash and it included papercups, capris-suns, plastic, paper, left over food, clothing and more. We went pretty far throughout the beach and picked up anything we could see. This was sad to see that not many people care about their environment and how it affects our home. I learned that I should get involved in more activities like this and aware peers to do the same. I am also more aware of my surroundings; I am glad that I participated in this acivity and not only can many of you particpate in activites like this but also particpate by not littering and throw trash away in a proper trash can. Overall it was a great and fun experience! Happy Earth Day!

Written by : Michelle Pivaral